Shifting Sizes
by Illusory Phantom
Summary: Weeks After Time and Space: Clockwork and Desiree have a talk about Clockwork's abrupt changes in appearance. Pairing Clockwork x Desiree.


**Author's Notes: **These are responses from the reviews of Dark Days.

**King Pariah: "Team paradox" work in progress XD**

**You're definitely correct on Dan changing slowly. A fast change sounds like a cop-out(did I write that right?)**

**I liked it. Dan is going to make Clockwork's (after)life miserable. xD**

Definitely some assembly required here, huh? xD

People tend to write Dan going through some miraculously fast change and end up feeling like I've missed countless things. I'm trying to make it seem like Dan has the potential to change without changing him so dramatically over a bit of time, and I hope that it's working. I still feel that I am pushing him to quickly, but Dan has had his moments. When he let it slip to Sam and Tucker that he sometimes missed them in his weaker moments or when he seemed completely taken aback when he learned that Jazz had known his secret and was merely waiting for him to come to her, or how he spared Jazz's life twice when he could have just killed her. If you think about it, if Jazz, Sam and Tucker hadn't come to the Nasty Burger to warn everyone about their impending doom, they probably wouldn't have ended up tied to the vat of Nasty Sauce. Sure Dan probably would have hunted them down later, but he seemed to be showing some signs of having feelings towards those specific characters. I can understand his not caring about his parents, especially in his state. He had wanted to tell them his secret, and part of me believes that he had wanted them to find out, but because they hadn't and had always said how they would hunt him down and rip him apart molecule by molecule and oh my god I am rambling so hard right now. Sorry. Basically I saw some good in Dan and decided to latch onto it and exploit it. (and I believe you typed out cop-out correctly, but I'm not sure myself.)

Oh you've no idea the turmoil that Dan will cause whether it be intentional or not, lol.

**Lioness Deity: NEW SHIP! (I've actually been shipping this ship for a bit.)**

A part of me wanted to say that it would've been funnier if you said that you've been 'sailing this ship for a bit', xD. I've not seen anyone ship these two. It's mainly been Dan and Clockwork or Clockwork and Danny. I decided to take matters into my own hands. Glad you ship this pairing too. It makes me feel like I'm not the only one in this boat. (see what I did there? sorry it was bad, lol.)

**Anyway, next one shot. :D Enjoy.**

* * *

Shifting Sizes

It happened so suddenly, and the transformation came so naturally that he hadn't noticed. Suffice to say that she had and she had been startled. Desiree, the Wishing Ghost, had been locking lips with the Master of Time in the middle of Clockwork's Tower, when he had abruptly shifted into his elderly form. Desiree had immediately backed away, her eyes were wide and filled with confusion. Clockwork blinked at her before he glanced down at himself. It was only then that it had dawned on him.

"Ah," he stated as he scratched his cheek with his pointer finger. "'That slipped my mind."

"I...I do not understand," Desiree stated, her eyes still filled with confusion and something else. "Is...is this a thing?"

Clockwork nodded at Desiree before he glanced down at his bony fingers. She continued to stare at him while he thought over this transformation. It was natural to him, but it might be a problem for her. He frowned a little bit before he sighed. Desiree floated towards him and then began to circle around him, examining his form. He shifted once more into his toddler form and Desiree couldn't help but to giggle at him, remembering the heart to heart with Dan a few weeks back. She had been skimming through a book when he had recommended a page to her about Baby New Year. She hadn't completely read through it but she knew that 'Baby New Year' was Clockwork, which was why both she and Dan had been laughing. She had thought that it was merely a much younger version of Clockwork before he became the powerful spirit he was, needing to expand his size and adjust his appearance to compensate for the power that he held. Now, it seemed that there was more to it.

Clockwork's cheeks had taken on a green tint, for he too recalled the conversation that had taken place between Dan and Desiree. He couldn't help but roll his eyes. Desiree smiled before she kissed his childlike form on the cheek.

"So are you going to explain this to me? Why have I not seen you do this before?"

Clockwork rubbed his chest awkwardly before he began to think of how to properly explain the situation to her.

"This is a result of me no longer being at full power. You see, being the Master of Time permits me to exist inside and outside of space/time. I am always affected by the shifts and therefore my appearance changes to compensate."

Desiree nodded in understanding, though she was still a bit confused. It had been a few weeks since his powers had been taken down to half its strength.

"Why now have you begun to shift in your appearance?"

"When I was at full power, I was able to resist the shifting of space/time. It is second nature to me just as the shifting of my form. The reason as to why it is happening now is a bit more complex. I suppose you could say that it is because space/time has fully compensated for the abrupt shift in its courses due to myself and my brother. Even though things were restored, on a much smaller scale things were still out of whack, if you will. I believe now everything is back to the way its supposed to be, and with that my form will resume its shifting."

The moment the words left his lips, his body went from childlike to elderly. Desiree kept her expression stoic, but her eyes reflected uncertainty, and that made Clockwork feel self-conscious. He couldn't control the shifts with only half his strength, nor did he really want to since it was a part of who he was. Quasar even had a similar problem, though it was the stars on his cloak. At half power, the stars on his cloak were either invisible or all white instead of a multitude of colors. Of course, that wasn't as bad as physically changing, something that could pose a problem in battle which was why he had been given the full use of his powers to begin with.

Desiree noticed Clockwork's sudden withdrawn state, and knew that it was her fault. She hadn't meant to make him feel in such a way, but she couldn't help it. It was true that Clockwork was older than her, but it would be weird to be in the middle of a lip locking session only for him to shift into his childlike form. He looked younger than Youngblood in that form, and she really didn't know how to respond to that.

Absently, Desiree ran her fingers through her hair while Clockwork played with the gear that was pinned to his cloak. It was safe to assume that the situation was awkward, and it was even safer to assume that both of them were all for breaking the awkwardness. Clockwork went to speak, as did Desiree which resulted in them silencing themselves, each wanting to give the other time to speak. When neither one spoke after two failed attempts, they laughed though it was a little more reserved.

Clockwork sighed as he looked towards Desiree with his own closed off expression.

"If this bothers you...I mean, I cannot help the change..."

Desiree blinked before she placed a hand on his shoulder as he shifted back into the form she had grown accustomed to.

"I will get used to it. It is different, and strange, but nothing overly so. There is also something about it that I find endearing, and I must admit that you make an adorable baby."

Clockwork turned his head away from her, but not before she saw the embarrassed flush of his cheeks. She giggled before placing both hands on Clockwork's shoulders to turn him around to face her. She smiled at him before she leaned up for a kiss.

"Everything is the way it's supposed to be," she whispered sweetly before her lips connected with his.

**END**


End file.
